A wartime grain loan certificate discovered within an old family home in eastern China has been donated to local authorities nearly eight decades later, illuminating a villager’s remarkable faith in the troops.

In 1947, a major People’s Liberation Army (PLA) unit entered the Dabie Mountains, which stretch across the borders of three provinces in central China, during a counteroffensive against Kuomintang forces. The harsh conditions on the battlefield had left the troops desperately short of food and other essential supplies.

According to Dawan News, Kuomintang forces had plundered villages in the area and forcibly conscripted Ding Wanmin’s son, a local farmer.

However, when PLA soldiers arrived clad in thin clothing and straw sandals, they maintained strict discipline, opting to sleep outdoors rather than intruding into villagers’ homes.

After observing their behaviour for some time, Ding made the decision to lend the unit over 850kg of grain, nearly his family’s entire reserve.